Banner
any day today rss X

News and Comment June 2024

Index: 2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024

29 June (Part 2) - A bunch of amateurs

The new election leaflets are now all on-line in the usual place. It can be tricky to get a consistent format across the board but basically each party’s title links to a sub-Index from which specific leaflets may be chosen - except where there is only one, when the Index is bypassed. (I will be checking for consistency again later.)

There may not be a lot of point reading the Labour and Reform leaflets because they do no more than trot out the national party line. Louie French (Conservative) has made a valiant effort to be different and concentrate on local things and so to a lesser extent has the tongue-twisting Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett for the Liberal Democrats. His Social Media pages reveal that he very considerately asks you to refer to him as They.

Illegal flypostingWhilst nothing happens in Erith & Thamesmead electioneering goes on apace elsewhere.

A friend who has been involved with a Reform campaign tells me that it is an absolute shambles because unlike the other parties they have no historical database to fall back on. The big parties will be going around ensuring that their core vote is ready to turn out and Reform hasn’t a clue who their core vote is and door stepping is therefore not for them.

My own ‘door stepping’ is confined to listening to radio phone-ins and reading newspaper comment columns. If they are an accurate guide Reform is going to walk it but it is of course a self-selecting ‘birds of a feather’ audience.

Could it be possible that we are in for a Brexit style shock on Friday morning? In 2014 when Mick Barnbrook stood for election in Blackfen and Lamorbey he knocked on every door but was narrowly beaten by UKIP who admitted to knocking on none. A popular groundswell swept them to victory in that seat.

Reform are not only proving to be amateur campaigners they also don’t seem to have any knowledge of electoral protocols. A contact within Bexley Council says they are having to waste a lot of money tearing down Reform posters taped to Council infrastructure.

Obviously local authorities must be careful about appearing to endorse any candidate by allowing them access to publicly owned infrastructure.

 

Return to the top of this page
Bonkers is a cookie free zone. Not a single one